YOU HAVE GOT TO READ THIS! (Me, you and clickbait)

23 February, 2017

It has been so long since I blurted out a few of there things spinning around in my brain, without really trying to make much sense. Can I do that for a bit? Today I was killing time in the river while my latest Youtube uploaded (I should have been working, but my entire computer shuts down for six hours whilst I’m uploading a Youtube video!) thinking about how hard it is to create stuff on the internet and then feel completely out of control of whether people will even SEE it, and how far I’m willing to go to get my stuff seen.

I began thinking about how the internet could be better organised so that the screaming clickbait didn’t drown out the thoughtful polemics.

Imagine if the internet was sorted like a library. Alphabetical surnames. You could turn up at the exact point in the aisle and see all the works by your one favourite writer, or you could run your fingers along the spines and select something because of the hot pink typeface. It’d be orderly and calm but you would have to sneak your snacks in, which is a bit of bummer. Also, you’d probably get people changing their names so they could get their blogs seen. Everyone would be Aaamelia Aaaardvark.

They’d have to put an end to that.

Perhaps it could be organised alphabetically by online business name.It would be like the phone book, where there are a million business that have come up with a name that begins with numbers and a letter A. 1234AAAXylophone Makers!

That wouldn’t be any better I suppose.

I don’t really have any suggestions for The Internet. (I’d love to know who I’m talking to when I say The Internet.)

But I do have suggestions for Creators. (That is what The Internet calls people like me – who write and make videos and generally post things online.)

And that is – put your content in the title and trust that people who want to read it will read it!

If we were all really clear about what we were putting out there in the world I feel like the internet would be much easier to navigate! We’d be less drawn in to time wasting things and we’d have more time to read about the areas of learning we WANT to read, or we’d have more of a chance of actually getting OFF the internet and watching clouds float along a blue sky.

I really don’t want to be responsible for sending someone into unfulfilling internet rabbit holes instead of poking sticks into real life rabbit holes with their children and all the joy that comes of that.

It’s not an easy vow to keep.

And I consciously break it these days on one of my platforms.

The big gnarly underworld of Youtube.

Places like Youtube massively reward clickbait. They don’t even care what is inside the video, they just care how many people are clicking the video. So here is where I drop my ethical code somewhat. My Youtube video titles seem clickbait-y. I try and make people want to click them. But here is the difference – clickbait doesn’t ever deliver, whereas I try REALLY hard to. The content of my video is relevant to the title and I bust my gut to try and make sure the content of the video is good quality…

Exhibit A, today’s video:

Youtube is a bit of a mess. And if creators want their videos to be seen by people they have to play by Youtube’s messy rules.

I also figure that if people are hanging about on Youtube already, I am not driving them away from stuff they really want to be doing with their lives by having them check out my video! I hope that they will click because they think WTF? And then they get a big ole lesson in normalising breastfeeding!

I’m not apologising, I’m trying to be conscientious about my clickbait code. But I am justifying myself to you, because I care about you and the relationship we have in this little internet community.

When it comes to myself as a consumer and participant of The Internet, I try hard to curate the things that come into my view. I have got rid of my Facebook Feed and now only use the groups I am a part of to see what they are reading and doing. I use Pocket Hits to read the latest long form and once a week I read all the news on the Guardian. I use my subscribe page on Youtube, and have bookmarked my favourite blogs. All this means I don’t have swarms of information coming at me every day. It’s not perfect – it also means I might miss some important stuff and am less likely to find a new creator to fall in love with.

I’d love to hear from you. How do you navigate a clickbaity world? Do you have a way of steering clear of things that are irrelevant to you or time wasting? Does curating your internet so rigidly like I try to mean we’ll just end up in big echo chambers?

I am Lucy - a writer, mama, activist and vintage lover. (Especially nice old typewriters.) A huge thank you to my supporters on Patreon who make my writing and videos happen. You can join that wonderful bunch for as little as $1. On this blog I share all my tips on natural, toxin-free living and wild and joyful parenting - all from a yurt in New Zealand. Keep in touch through Instagram, Facebook or Youtube.
Do stick around, I'll show you my typewriters...

You Might Also Like

7 Comments

I use a RSS reader to follow my favourite blogs and news we sites. Most news web sites and blogs have a RSS feed. Once or twice a week I will check local news web sites but usually if something important is happening someone will tell me so there is no real need to even check them. I quit Facebook over a year ago and doubt I’ve see click bait since.

I can see the benefit in following the rabbit hole sometimes. When I find myself hours into a mission, it is because I am truly lost about what to do, not because I am watching cat videos. A couple of years ago, I had a very unhappy five year old who was acting out st school, refusing to follow instruction, highly anxious and incredibly unhappy. That rabbit hole took me deep into a world I didn’t know existed. Bloggers seemed to be telling me it was ok for us to do what we were already doing at home, all the time! What a revelation. My now very happy, very confident, sensitive, caring seven year old unschooler is surely happy for all of that trawling!

He is currently outside putting the finishing touches on a giant papier-mâché ammonite he designed all ready to take it on our mountain fossil hunting expedition on saturday.

As for other times, I think it is more about prioritizing your life than internet use. I don’t spend much time on the internet because I enjoy other stuff more, like being outside or being with my family or reading. I check in with the bloggers I like and have a quick flick through the daily news and then I am on to other things. The only time I find myself in a clicking frenzy is when my mind needs answers. And isn’t it wonderful that they are out there! I am sure there are countless wonderful bloggers like yourself who I don’t know about and would enjoy, but I am also confident that should I ever truly need them, I will find them.

Yes, I do agree that I have been down some rabbit holes that have been exceptional and life changing! I think I clarified “unfulfilling rabbit holes” as i find myself getting drawn into political articles that re unhelpful and angry making. Those fulfilling rabbit holes are a winner- if only rabbit holes had a sign on them!

I’m just basically coming to terms with the fact that hardly anyone is gonna see my stuff! I love your vids and recently subscribed. I reckon you’re thinking about all the things you have to do today while you were feeding. 😉 currently breastfeeding my 1yr old.

I discovered you accidentally today while researching and preparing for a presentation I’m giving to a group of holistic coach trainees on reducing toxic burden through homemade, natural body care products. I’ve had “self-cleaning” hair for nearly 10 years and will never go back to commercial hair products, but my “secret ingredient” is a clean, dry, terrycloth towel, stroking my wet hair from roots to ends 200 strokes. Even with hard water my hair stays clean with just this method.

But I really wanted to commend you on your breastfeeding video! I, too, breastfed all three of my babies through toddler-hood (they weaned at 4.3, 3.0, and 4 years, respectively; I nursed for 9 nearly-consecutive years!) and wore each of them in the sling. I loved that I could stand in the grocery store line and nurse my babes in the sling, and no one was the wiser!